The Monaro Is Dead

[mickq]

Hey all,

Its been confirmed, Expensive Daewoo are killing off the Monaro. The press release is due out any day now.

The last production run will be in August. This would explain the weird colours they suddenly limited people to that I posted about a few weeks back. Along with that I heard 3 months ago that the Monaro would never have the 6 litre engine in it (despite the SS due to have it in Sept->Nov this year if its still on schedule), and the chassis being made from later this year on didnt suit the Monaro shape or requirements without making a very expensive Monaro special chassis.

A special edition will be done, 1200 in total, for the standard Monaro price but comes with a few freebies like sunroof, different mags etc. Its called the CV8-Z. Only comes in pretty putrid colours unfortunately. (See my last Monaro related post for exterior and internal combinations on offer).

For those who dont know the history, the Monaro was going to start being made in the US as their sales (as the Pontiac GTO) were stronger than ours. Then GM announced terrible financial figures, announced as a result it was reducing production to only its core lines, and I heard strong rumours that despite the GTO being the "lead" part of a Pontiac revival, GM had sh1tcanned it.

It makes sense too - the timing is bad. Expensive Daewoo probably bet on production going overseas and started planning future production of something else for the Aussie production lines currently handling the Monaro. At the time the US would have been faced with terrible company performance, and a cost in the hundreds of millions to gear up a plant to start making the Monaro...so it would have made sense not to do that and cancel the move. But I reckon by then Expensive Daewoo in Aus had committed the production line to future models (you cant plan that kind of thing overnight) and their whole future production schedule would have been already planned, tooling up starting etc...effectively leaving the Monaro in limbo and with nowhere to be made.

Its a pity in a way. The Monaro was a good stab at a sleek car by Holden, and added to competition between Expensive Daewoo and Ford which is good for us all. With a few tweaks (like the putrid green dash lighting!) it would be quite nice to own, especially with the 6 litre and the new US style loud exhuast which is a big plus compared to typical Aussie exhausts.

Given there are a lot of Monaro fans, I would imagine the last 1200 would go quite quickly (people who had been procrastinating would likely jump and buy one) despite 1200 being a fair few compared to how many they sell.

[jEtONiT]

ohh crap that's no good

I reckon the monaro is tops

hope ford makes a 2door sports car..

[maximum_velocity]

hope ford makes a 2door sports car..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

eeeeerrrrrr they do its called focus

[Lumpen]

ohh crap that's no good

I reckon the monaro is tops

hope ford makes a 2door sports car..

I think the original 'new Monaro' (sans wing, before ugly grill and bonnet) has been the best looking Expensive Daewoo for quite some time.

Bit of a shame really, at least it was an Aussie car.

Lumpy

[aniken]

hope ford makes a 2door sports car..

eeeeerrrrrr they do its called focus

[ms700]

The current Monaro has been around for too long now.

Facelift it, or axe it.

Looks like they've axed it.

[phantomchic]

Cya Monaro - the new one never matched the 70's versions!

Welcome to a 2 door Ford Turbo

Shaz

:rokon:

[RAPHOON]

It will be interesting to see wha replaces it. Maybe something like the Torana shown some time back.

I liked the look of the original car before the HSV fantastic platic bits went on it. Pity to see its demise.

[Trough Lolly]

Good riddence!! :rokon:

[Venom XR6]

Good riddence!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed